Reader Question: What happened to your scars?

I had a question from Diana from my previous post about fighting acne.

Her questions was:
could you post what you did with your scars? im pretty sure if you had alot of cystic acne wouldn't you get pock marks? :X i have alot now too but they're not that deep :]

First of all, I was fortunate enough not to get pock marks. The pock mark that I probably still have on my face that never went away was from my chicken pox day from constantly scratching it. Because of that I never scratched anything itchy on my face.

When I was on a breakout havoc a few years ago, I made an attempt to NEVER touch or scratch my pimples. Let alone pop that sucker out til it bleeds (sorry for the graphic detail). I'm not sure if it's just me, but just the idea of popping pimples grosses me out. Scratching or popping anything on your face will aggrevate your skin hence why it leaves a scar (to remind you not to do it again :]). So left my pimples alone til they pop on their own. That's how I have at least prevented really bad pock marks on my face. It's probably the first step in treating acne. Do not touch your face or pop that pimple no matter how tempting it gets (again it's beauty common sense but we seem to forget it everytime).

As far as scarring goes, I used few different products to help lightened it. The condition of my skin has improved, and I have minimal visible scarring left on my face which are slowly but surely fading. Remember that these things takes time and patience. If you want your scars gone right away, start saving up and investing on a laser treatment.

The most effective product that has really lightened my scars is the Ly-na Face Pearl Cream (Click here and here for related blog entries). It's a great product if used right. I've also tried Scarzone, but I didn't think it was as effective as the pearl cream. I switched later on into using a product by Sewame Paris called Spots-removing & Trace-Free Essence (refer to picture on the left) that Sasa.com carried . I actually recommended this product to a friend of mine, but it's either Sewame discontinued this product or Sasa.com is currently out of stock because I can no longer find it on the website. Anyway, Sewame also helped a lot in fading my acne scars. Initially, I didn't think that the product was going to work and thought it was a gimmick. But, overtime I saw results. What I liked about it was it was very light and it quickly absorbed in my skin (I will do a formal review on this).

Using sunscreen also helps fading acne scars. By protecting your face against sun exposure, it helps minimize the pigmentation of your scars. Sun exposure makes your scar more apparent because of UV-radiation that makes it darker. I use Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Lotion for Face and Body SPF 55 and it has done wonders for me. It's definitely one of the factors that help my face clear up. It didn't break me out and it doesn't leave a white, pasty mask on my face.

Lastly, exfoliating once a week promotes skin turn-over because you're shedding off the bad layer of your skin. If you're face is sensitive, a great scrub is simply mixing sugar and honey together. It'll leave your skin nice, soft, and glowy.